I’m thinking of playing for English country dancing; I love the chunes, and they fit beautifully on the flute with added irish ornamentation.
However, the bulk of the repertoire is in the D flute-unfriendly Keys of C and F.
So I’m exploring options around looking for a cheapish flute in C. What’s out there? I know Casey Burns’ makes flutes in C for the same price as his D flutes, but what else is there?
Sweetheart has a C flute, which sounds good and is a good value,
but mine (in cherry) isn’t very loud. If you don’t need volume
it’s alright.
Dave Copley is making C bodies for his D flute headjoints.
These are a terrific value and are probably very good.
If you have a D copley.
I have a Casey Burns boxwood C which is fine.
There’s no slide except the tenon, of course.
Anyhow I like this flute very well.
Doug Tipple is making Cs, I think. If so they are under
a hundred dollars. Might check his site.
Another thought:
Sweetheart has high C flutes, too (or fifes).
Ihave one of these in applewood, which is
very good. It has good volume, good tone,
much fun. It’s pitched for the bottom two
octaves, not a military fife. These are about 95dollars,
I believe.
My Sweetheart C is quiet and has good tone …if you are not too fussy about the tuning. It was cheap as I recall, and I think you get what you pay for. I have to lip all over the place to keep my band mates from throwing stuff at me. Terry McGee is currently making me a C flute (his first for market). I’ll let you all know how it turns out, but knowing Terry’s work (I have a D 6 key of his) I’m confident it will be great.
Clark
I own one of these. Nice Flute but not easy to play it is unweildy and the spacing is pretty rough I would sell it if you would be interested (PM me).